Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to: Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Media, Shogakukan, Sunrise, Yumiuri TV and the other foreign manga rights companies that I have not dealt with. Twiknham owns intellectual rights only to the original characters including: Michael, Lucy, Logan, Armaund, Sesshoumaru's household staff (minus Jaken) and any characters in this story who reside in Texas. Twiknham makes NO monetary gain from this story, it is a completely free fanfic and Twiknham will not accept any payment. Reviews would be great, but are not required for updates. Also, as with any Twiknham fic, criticisms are welcome but please keep the language clean. Reviews do not come with ratings and are open to all viewers. Thx! –TK
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By 10am, Kagome was ready to purify a stuck-up white-headed spawn of a demon-dog. After searching for an hour, she'd finally come to the conclusion that just like five hundred years ago, he had left without even a by-your-leave. "How convenient to leave just when an emotional response is required" she mumbled under her breath while trying to find her way back to his room.
Absently wondering why he was acting so nasty this morning, she rifled through his dresser drawers, looking for something decent to wear. A few minutes later she was sitting back on her haunches, breathing heavily, and wishing she'd never undertaken this task. There were little piles of articles everywhere, but nothing that she could use. She had reached one shocking little conclusion when the man in question walked in and caught her.
"Human, what have you done with my room?"
She turned and glared at him, still wearing the lounging kimono from that morning. "Don't you have any underwear?" For the first time ever, Kagome saw a hint of red tinge Sesshoumaru's cheeks. He blinked, then suddenly turned and was gone again. "I'll take that as a 'No.'"
Just before lunch, a small green-tinted man walked into Sesshoumaru's bedroom and threw up his hands, the package he'd been carrying flying. "Oh my! What the hell happened in here?" Seeing the woman sitting on the bench beside the window, he shrieked. "Aaaii! A human in Sesshoumaru-sama's bedroom! My master has stooped to an all new low."
Kagome slowly turned to look at him. "And who might you be?" She wasn't worried, it was apparent that Sesshoumaru was around somewhere, he was just hiding from her. One good scream and he'd be there to save her.
The older man bowed slightly. "I am Jacque."
"Is that REALLY your name? I seem to remember it as something else."
Jacque started sweating. "Ano…" He took a good look at the woman sitting on his master's reclining sofa. Suddenly he pointed at her. "You're the Miko!" She stood and walked towards him. "You stay over there, Osuwari!"
Kagome suddenly laughed. "Sorry Jaken, but that only ever worked on InuYasha!" She reached the bag and looked at it. "Is this for me?"
"Sesshoumaru-sama only told me to bring it up here. He neglected to tell me I'd run into a human that should have died a LONG time ago." He was backing towards the door.
"Jaken, please stay for a few moments, if you have time. I won't harm you unless you try to hurt me." She was cautiously opening the bag and hoping nothing jumped out of it. Inside was a clean outfit, complete with underwear. "How did he?"
Jaken puffed up his chest. "He sent me with the sizes to pick up." Slyly, he looked at her over his big nose. "So, did you sleep with him last night? I bet you did." He walked up and sniffed her. "Huh. No smell."
"We slept, but I didn't have sex with your master." She put her hands on her hips. "What kind of person do you take me for?"
"Well, you did hang out with that Hanyou, we figured you'd have already mated."
"I'm a good girl Jaken." Suddenly something occurred to her. "Why do you look like a human?"
"It's a cloaking spell." Suddenly he shimmered and the old Jaken was standing there, more warts than before. "And before you tell me how ugly I've become, let me inform you that warts are a sign of distinction for my race." He looked over at the woman to see her walking towards the bathroom. "Hey! Wait up! You don't have anything nasty to say to me?"
Kagome just waved a hand, not turning to look. "You're just Jaken, why would I be nasty to you?" She disappeared into the other room, but peeked her head out. "Don't leave, I just want to change out of this robe."
Jaken heard clothing rustling in the other room and blushed, trying not to remember the very few times he saw Rin without clothes. As a little girl, she'd had the habit of running around naked after her bath. One time after she wasn't so little, she'd run out of the ofuro because a snake had slithered in through a crack. Jaken had fallen over in a dead faint, but he had been unable to purge the sight of that naked body from his mind. Sesshoumaru had quietly stepped in and killed the snake before ushering her back to the bath and standing with his back to the room until she had finished.
Suddenly the girl was standing in front of him wearing a red and white striped shirt and jeans. "Rin?"
Kagome froze. "Jaken, are you alright?"
He shook his head and smiled. "Yes, just got startled for a second."
She sat on the edge of the bed to put her socks on. "Do I really look like Rin?"
"Not really, just at that first glance." When she finished putting the socks on, he opened the door. "Sesshoumaru-sama is waiting for you in the dining area."
While they were walking down a long hall, Kagome suddenly realized she didn't understand something. "Jaken, why don't either of you act surprised to see me alive?"
Jaken stopped and looked at her. "You had friends in the past, a monk and a taijiya. Sesshoumaru was looking for InuYasha after you both disappeared into the well, and they explained everything. I paid no head to the rumors until I saw InuYasha's son earlier this year.
"InuYasha has a son?"
"Hai." He looked up at the suddenly saddened woman. He laid an old wrinkled hand on her arm. "I'm sorry to have brought him up, I didn't realize that you still had feelings. Sesshoumaru-sama told me that you had broken up with InuYasha."
She nodded her head in affirmation. 'Because I caught him cheating on me with Tinka and decided that my heart couldn't play second fiddle again.' They walked the rest of the way in silence.
As they entered the door, Sesshoumaru looked up and raised an eyebrow at his retainer. Jaken didn't need to be able to hear to understand that non-verbal clue. 'She has not killed you, amazing. Why is she saddened? If I find out you did it, I WILL kill you.' Jaken bowed and exited hastily, leaving the two of them alone.
"Kagome, have a seat." He went back to his papers and waited for lunch to be served.
"Do you ALWAYS work?" The same servant set plates out, serving his master first.
Sesshoumaru put down the pages to start eating. "No. Sometimes I sleep. Other times I have to stop what I am doing to rescue stupid ningens who cannot take care of themselves."
"Touché." She took a bite of fruit salad. "Hey, this is good!"
"I would hope so. I pay my chef enough to ensure it is."
"Is your chef human or demon?"
He looked at her. "I am going to live to be several thousand years old. I do not have the patience to retrain a chef every forty years."
"Good point." The rest of the meal was conducted in silence. After the meal, Kagome stood. When she didn't leave, Sesshoumaru looked at her. "Thank you for the clothes." She turned, hoping to find something to fill her yawning day.
"I talked to Pyusuke, Jaken will take you this afternoon to get a new wardrobe. Is there anything in particular that you cannot live without? The chemicals are so bad that they will have to destroy just about everything. Pyusuke will return some items to me."
"I would like any pictures they can find. The rest…" She sighed. "I can do without. I didn't have much in the first place."
She was still staring at her feet when she heard the one thing she never expected to hear. "I am sorry for your loss."
"What?" She turned to look at him.
He looked at her, unblinking. "I will not repeat myself. Go find Jaken and get your things taken care of." Sesshoumaru had already gone back to his work before she could put her feet in motion.
A/N: I hope each of you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for the reviews, they have helped me through a rough week of mother nature gone bad and mandatory training. Hope everyone has a really great week and I will talk at you again next week. -TK